


Tag, You're It

by totallyevan



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Dave & Klaus Hargreeves During Vietnam, Drinking, Drug Use, Drugs, Falling In Love, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Implied Sexual Content, It's just mentioned like once, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Please Don't Hate Me, Sad, Vietnam, Vietnam War, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-28 18:09:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19399582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totallyevan/pseuds/totallyevan
Summary: Dating in Vietnam was never easy. Klaus and Dave have to watch out for everything, but thankfully they know their way around the system. Things escalate quickly and the only witness is the moon.





	Tag, You're It

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea that popped in my head about Klaus and Dave switching their dog tags as an alternative to wedding rings, and it slowly escalated from there. I hope you enjoy!

It had been a total of 5 months since Klaus landed in good ol’ Nam only wearing a bloody towel and his coat, clutching a neat black briefcase to his chest, and oh boy, has it been one hell of a roller coaster. Not like a lot of roller coasters existed back in the ’60s anyway. It was weird for dear old Klaus’ case, however. Despite having to hold a gun close to his chest just to make sure he made it back to camp alive, drenched in sweat, mud, and shit, despite not having easy access to drugs, despite how _terrifying_ it was, how he knew that one day he could easily be shot due to the lack of the necessary training but being forced in the army anyway, he still preferred it over the academy in a way.

Because at least here, in Vietnam, he actually mattered to someone who wasn’t his dead brother. Someone actually gave a shit about his well-being and didn’t scold him for all his bullshit. 

Dave.

Dave cared. Dave loved Klaus and despite how crazy it was, he had always been there from day one to help him out. It was nice, having someone around who actually meant what they said. They quickly became close friends and no sooner had two months passed than it turned into something more, which kind of surprised both of them. Well, to be fair, Klaus did kind of have his eye on him ever since he saw him in his cot when he first showed up. It was kind of silly, how he literally stayed because he found a pretty boy in the Vietnam fucking war. Out of all the insane last-minute decisions he’s made, _this_ one took the cake. What he didn’t expect was how Dave actually returned those feelings and Klaus honestly couldn’t have been happier. Whenever the soldier was around, all his worries went away just like that, as if God had snapped her fingers.

Of course, they had to watch out for… everything, really. They couldn’t just be out in public, holding hands like the two cute little soldiers they were. They almost never got the chance to talk to each other in private and had to act like friends and nothing more in front of everybody else. At least they could always sit next to each other in the bus or when they and their comrades were playing cards, around the campfire or inside their tents. They were together all the time and nobody could possibly separate them, hell, even their friends would joke about them always touching knees while sitting next to one another. It’s not like they could judge them though, everybody had different coping mechanisms about the whole war. That’s what everyone thought the whole _never leaving each other’s side_ thing was about, which was true technically. 

So yeah, Dave and Klaus never got alone time together. Which, really sucked, to say the least. The only times they could actually spend together without raising eyebrows was when all the soldiers were sent to town for a couple of days. That was pretty much how Klaus and Dave got together in the first place. God, that was such a good time. The R&R wasn’t a weekly thing though, sadly. 

If they could only share a kiss once every few months, their heads would have exploded by now.

Thank the lord they found a loophole a few months ago. Turns out their good ol’ friend Conny had figured out the two had a thing from the start. _You seriously thought nobody knew? It’s so obvious!_ He said he didn’t have a problem with gay people and wouldn’t tell on them. What’s even better was that he was on watch every Wednesday night and would turn a blind eye if they snuck out to do what God forbid or whatever. 

_“What’s so bad about gay people anyway? It’s not like they hurt anyone. And yeah, you guys probably want to spend time together. Can’t really argue with that, so you can go out there and do whatever, I don’t care. Just come back alive and don’t wake anyone up.”_

God bless him.

So, every Wednesday, with Conny on watch, the two would get out of their tent and quietly run away from camp where their favorite spot next to a lake waited for them. As much as they wanted to be away from everybody, it was much too dangerous to escape further into the jungle at a time like this without a squad, but at least it was far enough so nobody could see or hear them.

And that’s where they were, laying on their backs and holding each other’s hand like their lives depended on it. 

Because they did. 

And Klaus could only think back to all the times Dave was this close to him. 

* * *

A Friday and a weekend for all the soldiers to do whatever the fuck they wanted. Some soldiers managed on the hope alone of going back to their families after the slim chance of winning the war. And those with no family or dreams had, well, those three days. It was the only way to keep them entertained and to lift their spirits knowing they could die tomorrow.

Klaus was no stranger to a little bit of fun. Back in 2019, it was everyday life for him, but after what he went through over the past two months of serving, boy, was he looking forward to those days too. 

It didn’t matter if he knew they lost the war in the end, these three days would save him from the jungle. Three days of not having to worry about a leaf moving behind him, his uniform from practically being stuck to his skin from sweat and mud, his scabs and scars from a few weeks back starting to bleed again out of nowhere thanks to the lightest of a scratch against the branches he would push out of his way. Three days of being able to drink something that wasn’t muddy water, or eat something other than conserved food, not to mention being able to take something more than military go pills.

Three days of bliss. Three days of relaxation, music and probably sex. Sounds like a fun time, pop a pill or two and he’d be good to go. And Dave! How could he forget about Dave?

To be fair it’s not like they were dating or anything of the sort. But Klaus was _really_ into him and Dave definitely felt something for him back. Klaus would drag his fingers across his arm to easily turn the soldier bright red from embarrassment in seconds, they almost had a moment too when Dave comforted him after waking up from a bad dream. 

But that’s a story for another time. 

Hardly an hour had passed after the bus pulled up to Saigon and everyone was already looking for a place to eat, or booking a room in one of those shitty motels, _or_ getting drunk off their minds. It was easy to guess where Klaus was.

Not exactly what he had hoped for, but him, Dave, and two of their friends, Murphy and Sean, decided they all should go to the biggest bar they could find to celebrate being alive that day, maybe find some girls to sleep with as a bonus. Them all going together didn’t necessarily mean they wanted to talk about anything, figured the alcohol would do its work and they’d be suddenly laughing at nothing. And that’s what happened.

Only a few drinks in and everybody was drunk as a skunk, sooner or later Sean and Murphy got lost in a sea of people in the bar as everybody was up and dancing. Klaus and Dave were chugging down whatever it was that was in their shot glasses, going back on the dance floor and bumping into each other like toddlers, then more alcohol, the burning down his throat was much too familiar to Klaus, and then back on their feet and repeat.

Dave led Klaus a little further from everybody else, in the back of the bar where the door that was previously there was replaced by beaded curtains. Drinks still in their hands and dorky smiles on their faces, they stared at each other.

“This is fucking great,” Dave breathed out with a chuckle, looking at the ceiling, then back down at his drink and then turning to face Klaus again. “You’re a lot of fun, Klaus.”

“Ahh, you know it, Davey.” Klaus leaned his head against the wall, making circular motions with the hand he was holding his drink with, mixing it. He wasn’t as drunk as the actual mess he could have been at a time like this, or as wasted as Dave right there, but he was still pretty out of his mind. When wasn’t he?

“Y’know-” Dave started. “Your eyes are a labyrinth.”

Klaus grinned, tossing his head back as he straight up _inhaled_ what was left in his glass. “Oh yeah? How so?”

“Every time I look at you I get lost in them.”

_Wow. He really went for it._

It caught Klaus off guard nonetheless, the smile never leaving his face. He didn’t really think Dave would be a pick-up line kind of guy. Especially him, who would just get flustered every time Klaus teased him about something. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking. Yeah, maybe that was it. “I think I’m just gonna take that gin off your hands,” Klaus replied, still grinning lively, kind of avoiding the answer the other male gave to him and reaching out of for Dave’s glass. 

“No, seriously.” Dave looked at him in the eyes more intensely than before, if that was possible. “Your eyes are really beautiful. You are- really beautiful, Klaus,” he mumbled, his words interrupted by a hiccup mid-sentence. It was obvious it wasn’t just the alcohol, though. 

Klaus could feel the air getting a little bit hotter, he was sure Dave felt it too. A compliment? He hadn’t gotten a genuine compliment from anybody before, only the fake ones in the heat of the moment from the people giving him a fun time when he needed money for a place to sleep in, or drugs. It was always one of the two, never food or anything else. Did he mention he was a drug addict? And a sex addict? And yeah, the air was definitely getting a little bit hotter. Was it because of random memories coming back to him, or was it, Dave? He couldn’t tell. Can someone turn on the fan, please?

“I don’t want to hurt you, Davey,” Klaus said looking away from Dave, despite how much he wanted to keep looking at him and appreciate every single detail there was to him and his stupidly beautiful face. “I’m insane.”

Dave reached out with his free hand, gently cupping Klaus’ cheek and leading his eyes back to him. He was smiling.

“Maybe I’m insane too.”

Their lips met.

Dave _kissed_ him. He wanted to pull away before he lost himself in his grip, but he couldn’t. Klaus had been waiting for this moment for what, two months now? And it felt right, _god_ , it felt so right. They soon closed the gap between them, the slightly taller man pinning Klaus against the wall they were previously leaning on. It was a slow, but passionate kiss and their lips barely stopped touching.

Dave could taste it all. The gin, the Jack Rose they had earlier, the cigarettes, everything. Klaus tasted _so_ good; he loved it. He had already dropped his shot glass and slithered his hand around Klaus’ waist, holding him closer as they fell deeper into the kiss. As much as Dave wanted to keep him there under him and kiss him senseless, they were in the corner of a public bar and who knew if they’d been seen by someone already. He pulled away slightly, far away enough to be able to speak but close enough to feel Klaus’ shaky breath on his lips. 

“Let’s get outta here, yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

Next thing they knew, they were paying for a room in one of those shitty hotels, _two beds please,_ as if they were really planning on using both.

Everyone knows what happened that night. 

Seriously, they were so loud, possibly everyone on the same floor heard them, not like they could possibly give another fuck. They wanted this, they _needed_ this. It was only right, just like the kiss. 

* * *

Klaus’ back was against Dave’s chest, the sheets covering them from their hips all the way down to their feet. They sure gave each other a workout earlier, to say the least. Klaus finally managed to get a good night’s rest, away from the reek of death like back in the jungle. Or so he thought.

A few hours of peaceful sleep was all he wanted, but of course, the ghosts wouldn’t let him off that easy. Klaus’ blood started to run cold, images of them flashing in the back of his head. And no sooner had the nightmare started than he was back in that place. Back in the mausoleum.

People, covered in blood and guts, clothes ripped, glass and knives sticking out of their bodies as they screamed his name repeatedly. Small children letting out ugly sobs and searching for their parents, not understanding what’s going on. They probably didn’t even know they were already dead. A middle-aged man with his eyes gouged out and his fingernails ripped off, an old lady with half her face burnt off, the list of disgusting things he had seen there went on. And they were all coming back for him, in his dream. They never went away.

 _“Klaus.”_ Shut up.

 _“Klaus help us.”_ Shut up shut up shut up.  
_  
_ “Klaus... KLAUS!”

Stop it. 

_“Bitte um Hilfe!”_  
  
_“помоги!”_ Stop. Please.  
_  
_ “KLAUS-”

“Stop saying my NAME-”

Screaming bloody murder, he sat up suddenly, his eyes as wide as the sky, filled with pure terror, as tears started streaming down his face. His hyperventilating and previous scream was enough to wake Dave up in a matter of seconds.

“..Klaus?”

Dave’s eyes could barely be held open, but he forced himself awake for Klaus anyway. He sat up with a groan, wrapping his arms around Klaus’ waist slowly, not wanting to scare him with the sudden touch. It wasn’t unusual for Klaus to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, or for anyone else, really. It had happened countless times before, and Klaus always managed to wake everybody else in their tent up as well. That was one of the reasons Klaus changed tents a few times, he kept getting complaints and the others just wanted to sleep peacefully for once. He really couldn’t argue with that. At least he ended up in the tent Dave’s cot was again.

Everyone had their own fucked up shit to deal with, it’s not like they could scold Klaus for having nightmares, he wasn’t the only one with that problem. His case was a little bit different though. Everybody assumed he was mental or something, always zoning out in the middle of conversations just to stare at a random direction wearing a face of disgust and terror. Not to mention he just showed up out of the blue one night, covered in blood and only wearing a towel. 

Klaus tried to catch his breath, gulping down the saliva building in the back of his throat, as he lay back down with Dave on the bed, turning on his side, his arms still around him. “Klaus, it’s okay... I’m here. It’s okay, you’re okay,” Dave kept whispering comforting words in his ear, peppering his neck and shoulder blade with kisses to calm him down. Klaus practically clawed on Dave’s arms, not turning to face him yet. “Hey... Look at me.”

Klaus slowly turned to the side to face the man in front of him, trying to keep sobs from escaping his throat. “It’s okay. You’re safe,” Dave whispered, a sympathetic look on his eyes.

“You can let them out.”

And he did. Klaus started sobbing as soon as those words came out of his mouth, burying his face in Dave’s neck. He didn’t care how ugly his cries sounded, he couldn’t _take it anymore._ All Dave could do was hold him and brush his hand through his hair softly, telling him it was going to be okay and repeating himself to let Klaus know he meant it. They spent the next couple of minutes like that, holding onto each other tightly until Klaus wasn’t as tense and was finally able to breathe properly. 

Dave brushed his hand against his cheek, pulling his head up to kiss him on the lips quickly. “Do you want to talk about it?” Dave asked as softly as he could. Klaus sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder before mumbling something like _Not much to talk about, Davey_ , ready to fall asleep in that position. 

“You don’t have to shut me out like everybody else, Klaus. You know I’m here for you.” And it’s true, all Dave had been was understanding, patient. He never judged Klaus for anything, and only wanted to help him. He cared. 

_Well, I was adopted by a billionaire along with 6 other kids and I have superpowers that allow me to see and talk to the dead. The scowl I call dad would lock me up in a mausoleum around 17 years ago, did I mention I’m from the future and I came here using a time-traveling briefcase?_ Yeah, that wouldn’t really work. As much as Klaus hated not telling Dave the whole truth about him, he was sure he would scare him off if he led with that. It was too soon, much too soon. 

“I see things.” 

That would work for now. “I... I see things that aren’t there. Kind of like hallucinations but they’re so real. They’re so real and no matter what I do I always see them.” Klaus didn’t say anything about it being an actual power, that would have been a tough one to explain and he certainly wasn’t in the mood for unpacking all of that. He didn’t realize he had started crying again until Dave pulled him closer to his chest, no signs of letting go.

“I’ve got you. I won’t let them near you while I’m here. I won’t let them hurt you.”

“..Promise?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

Klaus gave him a sad smile, getting comfortable in his embrace as he shivered slightly, trying to fall back asleep but Dave noticed Klaus’ hesitation. Back in the tents, Klaus would always stare outside from the creak of the door flap when there was a campfire outside. His nightmares didn’t get him when he did that. Then it hit him.

“Do you want me to keep the lights on?” He asked in his gentle voice, pushing the hair out of Klaus’ face. He responded with a simple nod, nuzzling closer and trying to take as much body heat from Dave as he could. Dave, wanting to make sure nothing would keep Klaus from sleeping again, turned on the small lamp that was on the nightstand to light the room up just slightly. A few minutes later, with only each other in their arms, they drifted back to sleep.

* * *

“So... hit me if I’m wrong, but you and your siblings have superpowers?”

It was Klaus’ third month in Vietnam, about one month since he and Dave started dating. Klaus really didn’t expect to open up about himself and his family, especially to somebody he hadn’t known for that long, but it had already been his longest relationship this far and Dave somehow managed to get him to talk. 

“Yup! Adopted siblings, might I add.” 

It was hard to describe what Dave was thinking by the expression he was wearing. It was a look of genuine confusion, but that didn’t stop him from asking questions. “Right, you and- how many siblings did you say you have?” 

“Six! Four brothers and two sisters.” They were sitting in their usual spot next to the lake, the shining stars being the only source of light that allowed them to look at each other. It wasn’t really as dark as it normally was, so that was a plus.

“Four brothers and two- Right, right. Okay.” Dave pursed his lips for a moment, before opening his mouth to ask another question. Did he believe Klaus? Did he genuinely think he was being truthful? He honestly didn’t know himself, but Dave knew they wouldn’t just lie to one another. “And you can talk to the dead?”

“Mhm,” Klaus hummed in response, clicking his tongue about to add something to it. “Well, _they_ kind of talk to _me,_ if you’d like. They don’t have an on and off switch, that’s if you don’t count the drugs.” He snickered, looking up in the sky, using his arms as a stand.

“... Do you also see like, demons? Or is that not a thing?”

So, Dave was one curious little cat with a whole fantasy in his head. Who knew! “Judging by how ugly some of them are, they might as well be. So, yeah, I guess?” Klaus turned to look at Dave, a dorky smile on his face that didn’t really look as genuine as before. 

There was a pause from both of them there. Dave moved a little bit closer to him, keeping his voice down as if he was scared that someone would hear. They were all alone though! In this huge, empty, dark space where nobody could find them. Maybe he thought the ghosts would hear him?

“Have you ever seen like... the devil?”

Klaus let out a dramatic gasp, turning his head at the night sky and then back at him. “My my Davey! Aren’t you full of questions?” He giggled, fixing his pose so they could look at each other better. “Yeah. I have.”

“Wait. Seriously?” Dave’s eyes widened, kind of like those models when they won a competition in fake reality shows.

Klaus brought a lighter to his mouth to light the cigarette that was hanging from his lips. “Yeah, ‘m telling you. My brothers and sisters could see him too.” He took a long drag, inhaling all the chemicals like they were nothing, took it out of his mouth and let it hang on his fingertips. 

“Growing up we called him Dad.”

Dave shut up and looked at the ground, not sure what he was supposed to say. He probably just reminded Klaus some horrible childhood memories and it was entirely his fault or being too curious. Curiosity really did the kill the cat after all. 

“What’s the matter, Davey?” Klaus placed his hand on Dave’s thigh to grab his attention. “Don’t feel bad for me. Yeah, my dad was a sadistic prick but that shouldn’t stop you from asking more questions if you have any.” He gave him a genuine smile this time, bringing the cigarette to his lips again. 

He couldn’t help himself, he just had to ask. “Are there any here right now?”

Klaus scooted closer to him, passing him the cigarette which he gladly accepted. “Nah. They go away when I’m with you most of the time. They can’t do anything to me when you’re here. Just like you promised!” He exclaimed, booping his boyfriend on the nose.

Dave couldn’t help but chuckle and look into his eyes while bringing their hands up to his lips and kissing the back of Klaus’ hand sweetly. Those innocent little kisses were what drove Klaus crazy, considering he had never had those by any of his ex-lovers before. “Can you promise me something?”

“Mmyes, darling?”

“Stay sober.” That was the last Klaus was expecting to hear from him.

“What?” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, almost forming a childish pout. Did he really blame him for asking that though?

“I know you said the drugs help keep the dead at bay, but I’m here and I won’t ever leave your side. I won’t let them hurt you,” Dave tried to explain himself better. “You don’t have to keep putting that stuff in your system. I like it when you’re sober after all, and you should too.”

Klaus sighed deeply, taking a moment to reply. “Well, I guess if you actually help in keeping them away then... Then I guess there’s nothing to worry about.” He took the cigarette from Dave’s hand to take another drag. “Okay. For you, I guess.” 

Would he really be able to stop taking drugs completely just because Dave asked him to do so? He doubted it. But one thing he knew was that he had never ever felt this way about someone before, he knew Dave was special from the start. And no matter how much withdrawal sucked, no matter how hard it was going to be for him and no matter how much craving he would have to go through, he knew he’d try. 

* * *

Dave was a great listener and a very good advisor. He would sit down and listen to what Klaus had to say and try to help him as best as he possibly could. He was never the one to talk about his own problems, though. It’d been about a month ever since he had found out about Klaus’ powers and family and he just wanted to be there for him and him only. He was always the one to listen. It wasn’t Klaus’ fault at all, it was all his. He just chose not to talk about things concerning him, he much preferred listening to Klaus babble about his childhood than him sharing things from his own. 

It wasn’t because he was traumatized about his younger years like Klaus was, he just didn’t think much of them and considered them unimportant. 

However, that’s not how Klaus felt. So there they were, in their usual spot, Klaus begging him to share at least something about his childhood. “Come ooon, Baby Dave must have made all the other mommies jealous n’ Mama Dave must’ve been super proud of you!”

“Eh, I wouldn’t count on it,” Dave replied, sitting up from the grass and letting his hands fall on his lap.

“Eh? Why not?” Klaus copied Dave, sitting up next to him and looking at him like a lost puppy.

“There’s not much to say, honestly. It’s just-” He interrupted himself with a sigh. “My childhood wasn’t great. It wasn’t bad or anything compared to yours, - no offense - it was just, sad, I guess?”

“Oh? Do tell.” Klaus bumped into his shoulder playfully, trying to keep the negative atmosphere away. Dave exhaled deeply, childhood memories coming back to him slowly. 

“I’ll be honest with you when I say I don’t remember all that much. I lived with my mom and sister in a small cottage just outside of town, in a relatively quiet neighborhood. Everyone was pretty great, actually. We never really had trouble with anyone, except my dad.” Dave sighed, shaking his head to himself. 

“My mom kicked him out of the house when I was six, she found out he was cheating and the only memory of my dad is him yelling at my mom right before he left us forever basically. I can’t just shit on my dad though, he was actually the one that cared about us. My mom- she wasn’t really the loving mother you’d expect. She was just someone who would cook us food, wash our clothes, take us to school and put us to bed. No matter how hard we tried to get her attention, it was like she wasn’t interested.” 

He hadn’t realized but he was gripping Klaus’ hand way too tightly. Klaus hadn’t said anything about it though, whatever made Dave feel better, even though it was starting to hurt a little. “When I realized I was gay, I figured I was going to keep it to myself forever, since, y’ know, you don’t come out unless you have a death wish or something. I was only 14 then, and my mom already wanted to find me a nice girl from the neighborhood.” Dave mumbled something after that, but Klaus didn’t catch what it was. 

“It was the only thing she cared about that had to do with me. And yeah, as I said everyone in our neighborhood was great. I was always surrounded by people but I never really felt like I linked with them in any way. I didn’t care about them, I wasn’t friends with them, I was just there.”

Dave kept going on about things he never thought he would talk about, and it turned out his childhood wasn’t perfect either. He didn’t really have anyone to confide in throughout his years, and that’s why joining the army was always something he was interested in. It was a way for him to leave everything behind and start over.

In other words, his childhood wasn’t horrible nor was he mentally abused, but it was painful in a different way. Dave wasn’t alone, he was lonely. 

“And then when I finally joined the army, I actually made some good friends. Murphy and Sean were the first to ever talk to me. Soon I was creating friendships and everyone could confide in me. I could trust everyone in my squad with my life. Didn’t mean my depression stopped growing after that.” Klaus looked at the ground, quietly listening to Dave’s rambling even though they got way past the childhood part. “But then you showed up.” 

_He really has a way with words like that, doesn’t he?_ “I don’t know how you do it, Hargreeves, but all my worries just go away whenever I’m with you.” Dave let go of Klaus’ hand after holding and squeezing it so long, planting a kiss on his hair. 

“Same goes for you, baby,” Klaus answered with a big smile, appreciating the affection he was getting.

“Klaus.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

There was silence. Was that the first time one of them had used the L word? It had been two whole months since they started dating, they had to have said it before at least once. Yet, they hadn’t. Dating someone for so long they actually cared about had been new to both of them, maybe that was why.

The lack of conversation made Dave’s heart stopped for a moment. Did he just fuck it all up? Did he scare Klaus away already? “... I’m sorry I don’t know what I was-”

“I love you too, Davey.” 

* * *

Klaus and Dave were laying on the grass with their backs, holding hands, neither of them saying anything. It wasn’t unusual for them to do that, sometimes they just wanted to take in the nature around them and appreciate these rare moments of them being able to sit like this in silence. 

“Weird, no stars tonight,” Dave broke the silence, squeezing Klaus’ hand slightly, motioning for him to look at him.

“They wanted to make room for the biggest one, of course,” He explained with a smile, squeezing his hand back and looking at his boyfriend in the eyes.

“Oh yeah? And which one is that?” 

Klaus turned back to look at the night sky, giggling under his breath before having the chance to say anything. “I would have said me, but nah. I’m talking about the moon!” He pointed at the satellite hovering above them and once more turning to Dave. Its reflected light made his sea blue eyes shine beautifully.

“Is the moon even a star?” The slightly bigger man asked Klaus, trying not to chuckle at his poker face. Klaus only shrugged in response, the smile never leaving his face.

“Probably not. Guess the room was for me after all~” 

Snickers and giggles filled the air, as they scooted closer to one another, Klaus resting his head on Dave’s shoulder. “I wonder what the world looks like from up there.” Dave sighed, not taking his eyes off the planetoid.

“Luther would know.” 

He turned to the man on his shoulder in question. “Ain’t that the big guy?” He used his hand as a stand for his head as he turned to his side a little bit, trying to look at Klaus better.

“Yeah,” he replied, clinging closer to him and trying to get comfortable with Dave’s new position. “He used to live up there,” Klaus added after his monosyllabic reply all casual as if going on the moon something completely normal for that time. 

“On the moon?” Dave furrowed his eyebrows, putting words to his confused expression. Klaus nodded almost immediately, still trying to find a better position to lay in.

“Yeah, four years.” He put his hand behind his head, letting out a satisfied sigh and relaxing his muscles. “I bet it’s quiet... If I were him I probably would have stayed,” Klaus voiced, a pained smile on his face this time. Dave frowned at that, analyzing Klaus’ expression but Klaus was already turning his face to a random direction, but not looking at something in particular. “Klaus?”

Dave rubbed the back of Klaus’ hand with his thumb gently. “Mm?”

“Do you miss them?”

That caught Klaus’ attention, forcing himself to snap his head back at Dave and not zone out again. “What?”

“Your brothers and sisters. Do you miss them?”

He noticed Klaus’ silence. “You talk about them all the time,” Dave added, trying to further explain himself better and hoping he hadn’t said anything he wasn’t supposed to.

Klaus sighed, biting the inside of lip afterward. “I... I guess I miss them, yeah. I mean they were all _assholes_ , but then so am I.” Dave couldn’t help but frown again at his reply. 

“Were? Are they-?” _Not around anymore? Dead?_ A lot of the things he had heard about his siblings all led to that conclusion. Was that a touchy subject he probably shouldn’t have brought up?

“Hmm? Wh-” It took Klaus a second to realize what Dave was trying to ask. “Oh nonono, they’re not dead... Not all of them anyway.” 

“Ben, was it?”

A simple nod was enough for Dave to stop talking. He knew Ben’s death really affected Klaus even though they apparently weren’t as close as kids. How did he die? Could Klaus see him? Did he and Klaus start talking to each other after he died? What was his power? He always wanted to ask more questions about Ben but completely respected Klaus’ decision not to talk about him, and he was going to be there for him when he was ready to open up. 

Dave’s thoughts were interrupted by Klaus starting to talk again. “We just don’t talk to each other anymore. Everyone’s got it all figured out and I’m, well... I’m here.” He chuckled sadly, gripping his lover’s hand again. “I don’t really think they miss me though, nobody does. I don’t blame them for that.” He sighed, looking down at their intertwined fingers. “ _I_ wouldn’t miss me.” 

The words hit Dave, almost sickening him. _How could Klaus talk about himself like that?_ He opened his mouth, ready to say something, however, it took him a moment to recollect his thoughts. “I’d miss you,” he finally said, pursing his lips and turning to look his lover in the eye. “If anything happened to you I don’t know _what_ I would do.

I don’t miss her. My mom, I mean. But hell, I miss being close to you even though you’re right next to me and holding my hand,” he kept adding on, as Klaus crawled closer to him. Dave wasted no time and immediately wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face in his chest to listen to his heartbeat. 

“Please be nicer to yourself.” The words were barely heard, Dave’s face too busy being buried in Klaus’ shirt. Klaus held Dave’s head in place as he continued listening to his heart beating at a slow pace.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, alright Davey?” Klaus said after a few minutes of silence, moving a little bit to make sure he hadn’t actually fallen asleep, only to get a lazy moan in return. 

“Mmmhh... but you’re soo comfyyyy...”

Klaus clicked his tongue, smiling like a dork nonetheless. “I don’t wanna have to carry you back to camp. Hell, I’m not sure I can.” He moved from side to side, trying to push the sleeping beast off him and causing Dave to groan loudly in annoyance. “That ticklessss, stop.” Klaus giggled. 

“Mm, does it now?” Dave felt his lips form a mischievous smirk, as he moved his head lower.

“Wait wh-” He lifted Klaus’ shirt up just a bit as he started blowing raspberries into his stomach. 

The giggles rolled out of him almost instantly, unable to breathe between them as Dave practically _attacked_ him. Sooner or later tears were brought to his eyes from laughing so much, but Dave couldn’t help giving him a break.

Klaus’ voice was like music to his ears. Anyone could argue that his giggles sounded like a drunk literally choking, however, there was nobody else there to do so. And thank god they weren’t close to camp because everyone would have been woken up by Klaus screaming for him to stop while laughing uncontrollably.

“D-Dave stop!” He choked out in between his giggles, begging for mercy as he tried to push Dave off of him. His shoulders were shaking too much for him to put actual force, but he kept trying nonetheless. Dave was laughing as well, and he eventually stopped exhausting his boyfriend. That was for later. 

“Let’s do something fun then!” he exclaimed, rolling off him and laying next to him, as the other man struggled to catch his breath.

“What’s with the- sudden change of heart?” he asked, his breathing still uneven, pulling his shirt down so he wouldn’t get cold after the torture he just went through. “I’m the one with the fun ideas around here!” 

“I guess you’re rubbing off on me~” Dave cooed teasingly, poking Klaus’ nose before making a ‘boop’ sound.

Klaus moved his head down, scanning Dave like a grocery. “Challenge accepted,” he said with a smirk, grabbing Dave’s foot and sliding off the boot before he had the chance to react. He was so fast the now single booted soldier had to take a moment to analyze the situation. 

“Wh- Klaus!” 

But Klaus was already getting up, clumsily running away as Dave furrowed his eyebrows and quickly started running after him. “Klaus, give me my boot back!” he called out, though he couldn’t help but laugh as he chased him around. Klaus made an unexpected turn and ran straight into the lake, Dave could only do the same, and into the lake they went. After seconds of splashing around like little kids, Dave finally grabbed ahold of Klaus’ hand and dragged him to his direction. Klaus started splashing water at him, kicking and screaming and laughing while trying to escape his grip, but it was of no use. He eventually gave up. 

“My boot, please,” Dave said, holding his free hand out as Klaus groaned in annoyance but a smile was planted on his face.

“You’re a big bully Davey!” He exclaimed, refusing to give back what wasn’t his. They were soaking wet from head to toe, their uniforms were going to take a while to dry without the sun hitting their backs. 

“C’mon, we’re gonna catch a cold.” Dave swung his arm, motioning for them to get out of the lake.

Klaus pouted and let himself be taken by the water, laying on his back and giggling. “You’re no fun! I wanna stay here a bit.” 

“Oh, _I’m_ no fun?” Dave gave him a fake offended look before charging at him with no mercy. “C’mere you!” he yelled and Klaus started screaming and laughing like a small child again. They wrestled in the lake, Klaus swinging his arms around carelessly to blind Dave with water and it looked like he was winning, had he done this with someone before? It didn’t really matter, because soon enough Dave caught up with his technique. He grabbed Klaus by the waist and pulled him close, snatching the boot away from his hands and holding it away from him.

Klaus could try to reach for it again, but he couldn’t get it, he was laughing too hard and Dave was taller than him and could hold it out of his reach. But Dave had been glaring intensely at him, almost enough to burn into him and before he knew it, he stole the kiss. Klaus only held it for a second before he started giggling again, and he pushed Dave away so he could stop laughing.

He looked up at Dave, both of his hands on his chest. And Dave looked down at Klaus. Seeing his clothes soaking wet in the moonlight, looking into Klaus’ eyes. Dave noticed a lock of Klaus’ hair plastered on his forehead and he moved it out of the way gently. Klaus stopped smiling. He stopped giggling. There’s no noise, not even the sounds of crickets at night. Just them, in the water. Klaus bit his lip, before curling hands into fists, grabbing Dave’s shirt and pulling him in. Dave dropped the boot and caressed his love’s cheek as they embraced each other in the middle of the cold lake. 

* * *

They had finally gotten out of the water and back to where all the mess had started, Dave on his back and Klaus on top of him. “And what about your shoe?” Klaus asked, breaking the silence.

Dave looked up, his smile brighter than the moon. “You learn to let go.” He then looked at Klaus. “Some things are more important.”

“My god you’re such a sap.” Klaus giggled and nuzzled closer to his chest, the sound of his heartbeat resembling a faint echo whispering sweet nothings to his ear. “You know it, baby.” 

“Y’know I think we should get married.” 

Both of them laughed after Klaus had said that. “Oh yeah?” Dave faced down at Klaus, grinning and petting his hair.

Klaus zoned out for a moment. “Yeah...” he whispered, suddenly turning to him with a serious expression on his face. “I’m serious.” He paused and gripped Dave’s shirt slightly. “I want to marry you, Davey.” 

Dave frowned as he watched Klaus continue adding more to his words. “I’ve literally never met somebody like you. You’re the only thing keeping me together and god, I love you. I love you Davey and I don’t want to lose you and I want to be with you all the time. I really want to marry you.”

Klaus watched Dave analyze his speech, a slight smile of hope creeping up on his lips, but his eyes only screamed worry. Did he just fuck it up? Was it too soon? Was Dave going to scold him for thinking so childishly? He knew gay marriage was not a thing back then, which was another reason why he wanted to tell him the whole truth. About how he showed up, about the briefcase, about where he was from, about everything. That was his original plan but it looked like he regretted it now. 

“Klaus... I- Fuck,” Dave breathed out, squeezing his lover’s hand, trying to regain his thoughts. A weak smile appeared on his face. “I love you _so much,_ Klaus. And if I could just make you mine right here right now, I would in a heartbeat.” The smile started to fade. “But I- people like us... We can’t, we can’t just do that. It’s illegal, we could get in serious trouble for that.”

“I know Davey... I know,” Klaus mumbled, sitting on Dave’s stomach to look at him directly. “Maybe we could get rings or something?” He raised his eyebrows in sadness, begging to see approval in Dave’s eyes. “Klaus-”

Klaus shushed him before he could finish his thoughts, shaking his head and chuckling. “Yeah no that’s stupid it wouldn’t work.” He kept talking to himself, muttering random words that Dave could barely hear, head hanging low. 

Klaus’ face suddenly lit up and turned to Dave, pursing his lips before he started talking again. “How about this?” he asked as he put his hands behind his head, carefully taking off his dog tags and holding them firmly. “Give me yours,” he said, or rather ordered, holding his free hand out. Dave couldn’t seem to rub off the confusion on his face but did as he was told anyway. He passed the ball chain over his head and placed it on Klaus’ hand. Klaus took ahold of Dave’s dog tags and wore them around his neck, letting them clink against each other as one hit against his collarbone. Klaus then took his own dog tags and did the same for Dave. 

“There! Nobody can tell the difference but us.”

The way that smile crept up on Dave’s lips made Klaus’ heart falter. All his smiles had been genuine before, but that one was different. He was shining, replacing the missing stars in the sky that night. It wasn’t just his lips, his eyes were smiling too. It filled Klaus’ veins with euphoria and for a split second his world stopped and it was like everything was okay.

He watched as Dave’s smile turned into a grin, which caused his own lips to curl up as well, forming a smile of his own. “I now pronounce us husband and wife!” Klaus exclaimed, raising his arms to shoulder level and curling his hands into fists excitedly.

Dave moved his arms and placed them on Klaus’ waist, running his thumb against his right hip soothingly. “I’ll never take them off.”

That feeling filled Klaus’ chest again. That feeling where everything was okay. That feeling where he felt like he didn’t have to worry about the future or the war or the death of his friends and family. Like he didn’t have to worry about losing Dave. And it was. Everything was going to be okay as long as they stayed like this. 

* * *

Nine months. Klaus had managed to stay in Vietnam for nine whole months, meaning it had been six months since his promise to Dave. Yes, Klaus Hargreeves had been sober for half a year. And he was happy. He was happy and proud of himself that Dave was proud of _him,_ but he couldn’t just ignore the voices in his head, the ghosts in every corner. As the months passed, he and Dave became glued to the hip, they wouldn’t leave each other’s side, but no matter how much Dave was there for Klaus, so were the ghosts. 

They weren’t as intense as when he was thirteen locked in the mausoleum, but war was war. And progressively more of them started to show up. Comrades, citizens just staring at him with their gross, dry, dead eyes and calling out for help. _Please, Klaus please please please tell my family you can see me please let me talk to my family._ He hated seeing his dead friends look at him in disgust and disbelief when he couldn’t do anything to help. 

Things only got worse when Conny died.

It was Klaus’ fault too. If he had told him to watch out for the mine on the ground in time, Conny wouldn’t have gotten blown up into pieces. The image would never leave his mind, his friend’s flesh and bones exploding right in front of his face all because he didn’t look out for him like Conny did for him and Dave.

Dave insisted it wasn’t Klaus’ fault, there was no way he could have known anything like that would happen, but it didn’t make it any easier. His friend was gone all because of him and his ghost never fucking left him alone. Klaus didn’t blame him. It was rare for a ghost to keep their marbles in the afterlife if they weren’t there for Klaus, it was like their soul was crushed and gone forever. That kind of explained Ben’s behavior, it was just a hunch though. Dave had noticed Klaus twitching and zoning out of conversations just like when they first met. For the past month or so Klaus was still glued to him, but he wasn’t really there. His mind was in a different place, and as much as Dave wanted to help his lover through it, he couldn’t. He was able to help him before but now Klaus was shutting him out.

And it hurt. It hurt deeply and he couldn’t do anything about it. Dave knew Klaus wasn’t telling him something, but he didn’t want to force anything out of him he wasn’t comfortable sharing.

Either way, it was time for another R&R, and thank god for that because Klaus really needed a break from the war. And so did Dave. Because they both lost someone and neither of them could deal with death anymore. 

As soon as they got off the bus, Klaus and Dave made sure to book a room for the three days they’d be in town for. Their original plan was to go for a walk to blow off steam from the hard months they had to deal with and then stay in their room just the two of them, but Dave hadn’t been feeling that hot. So Klaus decided to go for a walk by himself.

And it escalated from a walk in the park to a walk in the bar.

Klaus knew where he was going wasn’t going to do him any good, but at that point he was desperate. He was sure just a couple of shots wouldn’t hurt anyone, in fact, it would just be enough to make most of the ghosts disappear. He ended up bumping into Murphy and some of the other soldiers and tagged along with them for the night. It was fun, but not nearly as fun as it would have been if Dave was there. A few shots turned into bottles, and the bottles turned into... LSD? No, no he wouldn’t do drugs. But Murphy was standing right there, practically giving it to him. 

_“Come on, I’ve seen you fidgeting ever since we got here. It’ll do you some good, trust me.”_

His stomach started to twist, his body screaming for a fix. And freedom was right in front of him, the ghosts that didn’t go away surrounding him and screaming his name over the loud music. He knew it wasn’t right, he knew he would regret it later, but he couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t stand hearing the dead call out his name, he couldn’t stand the ringing in his ears, he couldn’t stand the images of bloody, mangled bodies flashing in his mind. He just wanted to relax. 

Moments after the acid touched his tongue, everything got blurry. Finally, the sweet release of numbness _._ It was like greeting an old friend and it felt so _good._ His worries went away in an instant and nothing else mattered at that moment, Klaus couldn’t feel _anything_ and it was _great_.

Next thing he was knocking on the door of their hotel room, leaning on the wall so he wouldn’t stumble and fall. Being high as a kite and drunk as a boiled owl at the same time was never a good combination. Dave opened the door gently. “What took you so-”

“Heeeeeelloooo Daveyyy~” Klaus slurred out and stumbled his way inside the room, a giggle escaping his lips.

The smile that was planted on Dave’s lips dropped, as he closed the door and turned to Klaus with a... was it a sad expression? Klaus couldn’t tell, his eyes were shaking too much to see anything clearly. “Klaus, what the fuck.” That most definitely was sad tone but there was something else too. Something more... Something more like Reginald-like. Was it anger? Disappointment maybe? 

“Mmh, you in the mood?” Klaus took off his coat and let it rest on a chair, going on his tiptoes for a spin before laughing and sliding on the side of one of the beds.

He watched Dave’s expression change from worried to pissed off and sad. “You made a promise.”

“Relaaax baby it was just a little bit of LSD-”

“I don’t _care_ what it was.”

It was anger. Bottled up anger _and_ disappointment. Klaus honestly didn’t expect that from Dave at all. He was always this... pure and kind and worried soul. Sure, sometimes he would lose his patience but he was never angry at him. Dave’s anger seemed to distinguish a bit at that moment, furrowing his eyebrows in worry and sadness and... hurt. Klaus could tell he was hurt. And it hurt Klaus that _he_ hurt Dave and now it was all coming back right at his face. “I don’t want to lose you Klaus but all you do is push me away. You made a promise and you broke it and now you’re... You’re just not you with all the drugs dammit.” 

“Isn’t that the fucking point?!” Klaus didn’t know what woke up inside him that made him snap, but he did. He yelled at Dave who hadn’t done anything wrong up until that point instead of begging for forgiveness, no, he was too deep in this shit to start apologizing now. 

“Okay, I’ve had _enough_ ,” Dave practically growled, getting up and snapping his fingers so Klaus would look up at him. “I feel like everything I’ve done for you was for nothing! I’ve been there for you since day one and now you’re building up your walls again that I spent these months trying to lower down, and gosh I’m sorry I’m yelling right now but you’re not _listening_ , Klaus! So _listen_ to me!” 

It was terrifying. Dave raising up his voice was terrifying. Klaus yelled at him first and now Dave was yelling at him, so why would he be surprised?

“One moment it’s fine, the other is like you’re trying to get away from me. I don’t have a problem with you trying to protect yourself but honestly Klaus do me a favor and decide if you trust me or not.” Ouch.

Klaus was not good at dealing with these things. He always ran away from all sorts of trouble even when he was a kid, and usually drowned out his emotions with alcohol or whatever he could find that would get him high enough to forget his name. It all changed when he met Dave. Dave was his escape, his _life_. But of course he had to fuck it up and now Dave was against him as well. It was always Klaus’ fault. He brought this to himself and he knew it. 

So now that Dave wasn’t on his side, all he could do was run away. Klaus got up from the bed and grabbed his coat from the chair it had been sitting on, heading for the door. He hated himself for acting so childishly, but in his head, there was nothing else he could have done.

“ _Klaus_ , no.” 

“ _Klaus_ come on.”

“ _Klaus_ , I didn’t mean-” Shut up. 

Dave started to sound just like them. His brothers and sisters, the ghosts, his father. He felt a hand grip his shoulder and that’s when he lost it. It was just as harsh and cold as when a ghost’s hand went through him, back when he was thirteen. Whether it was going through his shoulder or actually touching him he couldn’t tell, he was too busy screaming for his dad at the top of his lungs, curled up in the corner of the mausoleum as more ghosts continued to crawl in his direction.

“Don’t _touch_ me!” The terror and sadness boiling up inside his stomach just spilled right out of him all at once. 

Then there was silence. He never meant to yell before and he definitely didn’t mean to yell now either, but he couldn’t help it. He was scared and overwhelmed and disappointed and angry at himself but he took it out on Dave.

Dave pulled his hand back, letting it drop on his side as it clenched into a fist. He took a deep breath and looked Klaus in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” Dave said slowly, not wanting to startle him. There was silence again, but it didn’t last long. “Let’s just calm down. It’s- It’s been a rough couple of days for both of us, let’s just go to bed and we’ll talk about this in the morning,” he added to his words, not moving before Klaus did. 

Klaus nodded slightly, moving past Dave and making his way to the bed he was previously sitting on. He didn’t bother taking off his clothes to sleep better, all he wanted was to rest with Dave by his side. He lay on the bed, turning to his side so he was staring at the wall. He waited for Dave to lay next to him, instead, he heard ruffling of the sheets from the other bed. Great, so they were sleeping on different beds now. Fantastic. Good job Klaus.

Dave felt bad about it too. He wasn’t sure if he should have held Klaus close or given him space. They were yelling at each other previously and he was scared to ask what Klaus wanted. So he did what he thought was best and gave him some time to cool off. 

It hurt both of them. Because both of them just wanted to cry and hold each other tight and apologize for being dicks to one another but they didn’t know how the other person would have reacted.

Klaus welcomed the darkness as his eyes dragged him to a dreamless sleep. 

* * *

For the first time in a while, Klaus wasn’t woken up by the screaming and begging of the ghosts, but rather by the beam of sunlight coming from the window and hitting his eyes. A groan escaped his throat as he sat up on the bed, barely able to keep his eyes open. He felt sore and had a massive headache, probably shouldn't have slept with his clothes on. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, as he yawned loudly and let out an exaggerated _‘fuuuuuuck me’,_ hoping he didn’t wake up Dav-

 _Dave_. Klaus quickly turned his head to where the other bed was to lay his eyes on him, just to make sure he didn’t wake him up. But Dave wasn’t there. Klaus frowned slightly, getting up from his bed, but his worried expression softened when he heard the shower running from the small bathroom. Klaus, relieved, made his way to the bed Dave slept in, making himself comfortable and held the pillow close to his chest. The faint smell of his boyfriend left on it helped him relax.

He almost fell asleep just like that, but the sunlight kept reflecting on something placed on Dave’s nightstand by the bed. Annoyed by the reflected light blinding him, he reached out his hand to put it away. His fingers brushed against a familiar texture and his eyes widened, quickly sitting up to look at it better, but still clinging onto the pillow. 

Klaus’ dog tags, just sitting there, on the old nightstand. 

_“I’ll never take them off.”_

His heart dropped all the way down to his stomach. He tried to swallow down the saliva in the back of his throat, but there nothing there. His throat felt dry as if he had tried to swallow sand. He gripped the dog tags tightly and pulled them close to his chest, letting the chain hung from his hands. Klaus had promised to stay sober, and Dave had promised to keep the tags on at all times. Klaus broke his promise, so was this his punishment? Was that what Dave was doing? If it was, it didn’t hurt him. Hurt was a diminished word. Destroyed him, mortified him, _broke_ him, maybe. But it didn’t hurt him. Not really.

His gaze shifted to the bathroom door opening, revealing the freshly washed Dave. His new grey shirt was a little wet from the water dripping off his soaked hair and onto his shoulders, but other than that he looked nice and dry.

Klaus stared at him, not feeling like he needed to say words. His eyes said it all. Dave’s happy resting face dropped to a frown once he saw the dog tags clutched to Klaus’ hands. “Kl-" 

Before Dave could finish, Klaus teared up. He didn’t cry, he sobbed. He sobbed like someone was tearing up his insides. Dave had seen Klaus cry before, but not like this. “Wait nonono-” Not a second passed and he was already sprinting to him and pulling him close to his chest. Klaus’ sobs didn’t seem to slow down, only when he gasped for air. His hands gripped Dave’s sleeves, his whole body shaking. Sadly this time it wasn’t from laughter. 

Dave held him tight, kissing the top of his head and rubbing his back. He hated being the cause of this pain. Klaus didn’t deserve what was happening to him. He didn’t deserve the shitty behavior or the ghosts or the war and all the death in it. The least Dave could have done was help him but instead, he managed to make it worse. “Baby please look at me-”

It sounded more like a question than a statement, either way, Dave said it as calmly as possible while brushing the hair that covered Klaus’ face away. And Klaus did. He looked up at him, sniffling and trembling like a mess.

“I just-” Dave bit his lip. He hated seeing Klaus like this. “I just didn’t want to deform your initials on them,” he said, eyebrows curling upward as his frown grew. Klaus only sniffled and gasped, trying to get air in his lungs. He moved his arms from the position they were in and wrapped them around Dave’s neck tightly, clinging closer to him and crawling on his lap. He started to cry again.

“I’m so sorry Klaus... I’m so sorry I worried you like that,” Dave mumbled in his ear, before resting his chin on his head and firmly wrapping his arms around Klas’ waist. He wasn’t going to let him go. He was going to stay there as long as he had to. 

Klaus took a few shaky breaths and pulled back from Dave’s chest to look at him clearly. Dave’s eyes were red and puffy, not as much as his, but it was obvious he was very close to crying as well. He gulped down a hiccup. “I’m sorry I yelled yesterday,” he whispered with what was left of his voice. It was raspy and silent but he managed to get the words out anyway.

Dave looked at him with a sad half-smile, blinking to push the tears back into his eyes. “Yeah... I’m sorry I yelled too.” His voice was ready to break, not like he cared. He moved his hand to the back of Klaus’ head, rubbing the nape of his neck gently.

“And I’m sorry- I’m sorry about fucking up-” Klaus started talking again, feeling his throat getting tighter, making it harder for him to speak without hurting. His throat hurt, his eyes hurt, his heart hurt, everything hurt. “About the drugs and the drinking- I don’t know what’s wrong with me-” 

“No, I’m sorry,” Dave interrupted him before Klaus could finish. “It was stupid of me to ask you to just drop everything. I can’t imagine what it’s like, Klaus, being followed by the dead all the time and I’m sorry I was never able to help you through it. I hate seeing you poisoning yourself but I hate seeing you black out randomly because there’s someone screaming in the corner of the room that I can’t even see-”

“You can’t control it Dave it’s okay...” Klaus cut him off this time, leaning into Dave’s touch as he rubbed his neck. “You’ve always helped me through it. You’re just looking out for me and I couldn’t ask for more,” he said, resting his hands on his lap still holding onto the dog tags. “Nobody has ever done that for me.”

 _Except for my dead brother that I haven’t seen in almost a year._ Klaus still wanted to tell him. He still wanted to clear all of Dave’s unanswered questions about everything. And it might have been the right time to spill the beans right then and there, but he hesitated. Enough shit went down already and he didn’t want to fall in a different hole at the moment. 

His thoughts were cut short as Dave removed his hand from Klaus’ nape and took the dog tags out of his hands. He pulled them over his head and let them rest in their rightful place. He then looked at Klaus again. “There. This time I’m not taking them off no matter what.”

* * *

The R&R flew by as fast as it came and things went back to normal. Of course, it became a little harder for Dave and Klaus to sneak out without Conny to let them off easy, but they found ways to spend time together nonetheless. 

If they weren’t fully joined at the hip before, they were now. Klaus’ relapse made Dave realize how much he really depended on Klaus, and how much Klaus depended on him. He made Dave a better person, and in return, he believed in Klaus when nobody else would.

It was true love and nothing anyone said could prove them wrong.

And when Dave was assigned to the front line, Klaus followed him. No matter how much Dave insisted he didn’t need protection, Klaus didn’t change his mind. Another thing he loved about Klaus. He would literally do anything, it didn’t matter how bizarre it was, to be close to Dave. He just learned to live with it. 

Because he was going to spend the rest of his life with the crazy man next to him, laughing in the middle of the war as shots were being fired and bombs were being dropped. Dave loved Klaus, and he wasn’t going to let him go. 

There was a sharp pain in his chest as if someone had stepped on him. Only it was worse. Way worse. And the pain was unbearable. 

“Christ on a cracker! That was a close one, huh Dave?”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you can forgive me for this. It's been a while since I've actually sat down and written something, so I apologize if it wasn't very well written. My sister (evelinaonline) was my beta and I'm really grateful! I'm actually planning on writing a lot of other stories (that aren't necessarily just one-shots) so please stick around if you're interested. Thank you for taking the time to read all this, it means a lot.


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